Marone. The Yankees really know how to lose. I mean, LOSE. And get swept by the Red Sox (2nd time this year). And crush their fans hopes after lifting them up in the past week.
The Yanks put their ace on the mound for this final of the 3 game set at Fenway, trying to salvage a game in the series on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon with temperatures in the 90’s. And Gerrit Cole got Bombed. Right off the bat in the 1st inning the Yanks were down 4-0. Then 6-0.
Meanwhile Boston’s #2 pitcher, Eduardo Rodríguez, struggling this year and coming in with a 5.66 ERA – shut out the Yanks like they weren’t there. Final score Boston 9 NY 2.
One hoped that every Yankee fan was out enjoying the beach, or was out on a boat, or in a park or enjoying the outdoors somewhere during this stinker.
The loss dropped NY into 4th place, a half a game behind Toronto, and 6.5 behind Boston, which vaults ahead of Tampa into 1st place. Tampa lost so the Yanks are 6 behind them.
1. Cole Bombed
Cole allowed a homerun on his 1st pitch of the game, to centerfielder Enrique Hernandez. Then a double, a walk, a flyout, and homerun to Rafael Devers and it was 4-0 with 1 out in the 1st.
Dead center 🎯 pic.twitter.com/7e5t0KhS02
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 27, 2021
That was the kind of afternoon it was going to be. As the sun and heat beat down.
Worries that Cole wasn’t as good due to lack of sticky stuff jumped to the mind. Both homerun pitches were on 4-seam fastballs that had too much of the plate — the one to Hernandez was 98 MPH, the one to Devers was 100 MPH.
“I couldn’t get the breaking ball down,” Cole said after the game. “I couldn’t get the fastball where we wanted to. Tried to make a good pitch to Devers and absolutely pulled it into the wrong part of the zone. The first pitch of the game was poorly located as well.”
Cole settled down to pitch a scoreless 2nd inning but then allowed a leadoff homer to JD Martinez in the 3rd to make it 5-0 off an 83-MPH knuckle curve. Xander Bogaerts then reached on an infield single, went to 2nd on a throwing error by Gleyber Torres, and later scored on a sac fly to make it 6-0.
Cole finished with 5 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 6 strikeouts. He lost to go 8-4 2.86 on the year.
2. Rodriguez Coming Back
The Yanks ran into bad luck against Rodriguez. He always seems to pitch well against them and here he was again — having pitched well in his last start — finally starting to look like his old self after a bad bout of Coronavirus last summer that caused heart inflammation.
The 6’2 lefty shut the Yanks down with 1-2-3 innings in the 1st, 4th, and 5th, and in between scattered singles while striking out 8.
3. Judge Homer
Finally in the 6th Aaron Judge touched Rodriguez for a massive homerun out of the ballpark in left to make it 6-2, giving the Yanks hope for a comeback.
#ALLRise pic.twitter.com/tzVKfYkI2l
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 27, 2021
But Rodriguez then retired the side 1-2-3.
4. Yanks Load Bases in 7th .. & Leave them Loaded
In the 7th, Miguel Andujar walked with 1 out and Clint Frazier singled — finally getting Rodriguez out of the game. Boston brought in former Yank Garrett Whitlock, who had shut them out for 2 innings Friday night.
Whitlock walked Gary Sanchez to load the bases with 1 out — the tying run coming to the plate. But then Whitlock struck out DJ LeMahieu and got Aaron Judge to pop out to 1st.
Rodriguez finished with 6 innings, 5 hits, 8 strikeouts, and the 2 runs off the Judge homer.
5. Whitlock vs Kriske
Whitlock then pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning. Luis Cessa allowed a run in the 7th and then Brooks Kriske pitched the 8th for the Yanks — allowing a homerun to Vasquez and then single, hit batter, and run-scoring double to Hernandez to make it 9-2.
Keeping the party going! pic.twitter.com/gUUvnfkQyn
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 27, 2021
It was poetic because the Yanks protected Kriske this winter in the Rule 5 draft — where teams are allowed to protect 40 men on their roster. The Yanks did not protect Whitlock — and so Boston grabbed Whitlock from the Yanks.
Etcetera
- DJ LeMahieu went 2-4 to raise his avg to .274 (.346 OBP). He now has a 10-game hitting streak.
- Aaron Judge went 1-4 with the homer — he now flashes 17-40-.285 (.381 OBP)
- Giancarlo Stanton went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts. He was robbed of a hit on a short fly to right that Hunter Renfroe made a circus catch on early in the game. Stanton went 2-10 with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts in the 3 game series.
- Clint Frazier went 1-3 with a walk. He is at .187 (.315 OBP)
- Kyle Higashioka started and went 1-2. He is at .198. Gary Sanchez came in for him once Cole left after 5 innings. Sanchez went 0-1 with a walk.
- For Boston, Rafael Devers was 3-4 with 4 RBI’s
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